FOG BLOG VATICAN LOG: THOUSANDS POUR INTO ST. PETER'S SQ. TO OBSERVE FUNERAL MASS FOR BENEDICT XVI!

Thousands pour into St. Peter's Square for funeral of pope emeritus Benedict XVI Vatican says about 50,000 people attended the mass, including many from Benedict's native Germany Pope Francis honoured his predecessor Benedict XVI, the German theologian who made history by retiring, presiding over a rare requiem mass for a dead pontiff by a living one before thousands of mourners in St. Peter's Square.

Bells tolled and the faithful applauded as pallbearers carried Benedict's cypress coffin out of the fog-shrouded basilica and rested it before the altar. Benedict's longtime secretary, Archbishop Georg Gaenswein, bent down and kissed a book of the Gospels that was left open on the coffin.

Pope Francis, wearing the crimson vestments typical of papal funerals, opened the service with a prayer and closed it an hour later by solemnly blessing the simple casket — decorated only with the former pope's coat of arms. Francis didn't mention Benedict's specific legacy in his homily and only uttered his name once, in the final line, delivering instead a meditation on Jesus' willingness to entrust himself to God's will.

"Holding fast to the Lord's last words and to the witness of his entire life, we too, as an ecclesial community, want to follow in his steps and to commend our brother into the hands of the Father," Francis said at the end.

Heads of state and royalty, clergy from around the world and thousands of regular people flocked to the ceremony, despite Benedict's requests for simplicity and official efforts to keep the first funeral for a pope emeritus in modern times low-key.

The event was also significant for what it lacked: the feeling of uncertainty that would normally accompany the passing of a pope before a new one is elected. With Francis very much in charge, Benedict's death marked the end of an unusual decade in which a reigning pope lived alongside a retired one.

"Benedict has been the bridge between [St. John Paul II] and Francis," said Alessandra Aprea, a 56-year-old from Meta di Sorrento near Naples. "We could not have Francis without him."